India has around 11.09 million urban vacant housing units, of which 78 per cent are in nine states and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, according to a report by Knight Frank, a real estate consultancy firm and Khaitan & Co, a law firm.

The report titled, ‘Institutionalising the Rental Housing Market in India-2019’ said the Draft Model Tenancy Act, 2019, when implemented will ensure the growth of institutional rental housing in India.

It further added, if rental housing is institutionalised with the introduction of a legal framework as envisaged, it would help in creating large purpose-built rental stock, which can also attract institutional investments in the long run.

"The addition of over 223 million new urban residents to the cities by 2031 will not be feasible if the rental housing market is not developed. However, in order to truly institutionalise and revive the rental market, more thought and debate is required to evolve the Model Tenancy Act into a meaningful, holistic and comprehensive piece of legislation," said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India.

Currently, there are 21.72 million urban rented households in India. Tamil Nadu (16.5 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (13.8 per cent), Maharashtra (13.5 per cent), Karnataka (11.3 per cent), Gujarat (6.1 per cent), West Bengal (5.9 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (5.1 per cent) and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi (4.3 per cent) together command a substantial 76.5 per cent of the total urban rented households.

“The Model Tenancy Act will provide for speedy remedies to both the owner and occupier of rental properties and will enable the court to deal with more legal factors, which require evaluation of various issues arising out of the changing environment of complex commercial transactions, government policies and new laws," said Sudip Mullick, Partner, Khaitan & Co.

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